Monday, February 4, 2019

Slayers Next Part 5 Episodes 19-22

The time for fun and games is over.  Demon Dragon Lord Gaav has appeared and his power is worse than anything Lina and The Slayers have ever fought before.  In the face of overwhelming odds, Lina and her allies must track down the true Claire Bible while battling Gaav and the last of his forces.  The revelations Lina finds will change her view of her magic forever.  But will they also be enough to bring down a man who can take anything The Slayers can throw at him?  And when the dust settles, is the battle really over, or is something worse about to tear Lina’s world apart?
 
The jokes were in short supply this week and with good reason.  While Gaav may never have reached the heights of Rezo 2.0, he did do a serious number on Lina and company.  When anyone can make your beloved main characters bleed for real, its time to get serious.  What went down this week was an epic battle that pitted monsters against dragons against sorcerers against swordsmen.  Basically it was an all out brawl and we haven’t even gotten to the season finale yet…in which case this was definitely a good primer.
 
The big reveal of Xellos being one of the most powerful monsters in existence shouldn’t come as a shock as there were plenty of obvious hints and clues.  Still, no longer needing to “hide” his identity allowed the smiling priest to cut loose a bit more.  Though, for a guy who could mow down an army of Dragons all on his own, having trouble against Gaavs subordinate seemed iffy to me and detracted from the hype of Xellos’ true power.  Thankfully, Gaav destructive power didn’t disappoint.  Cutting off Xellos’ arm and nearly killing Amelia were shocking moments that put everyone on notice.  This is the kind of bad news that makes you think everyones card might be up.  Factor in Lina’s epic use of the Ragna Blade and the fact that Gaav survived it after everyone thought the battle was over for good (very Dragon Ball Z Frieza Saga), and you had to wonder if things could possibly get any worse.
 
Well…they did. 
 
But before we get to yet another superb cliffhanger, let’s talk about the reveals around the battle.  After a season of searching (and failing), Lina finally got to speak with the Claire Bible and find out just what kind of power she’s been using to her own ends.  Finding out that the Giga Slave and Ragna Blade both draw power from the ultimate evil, The Lord of Nightmares, is a big shocker.  It makes me wonder how Lina learned the Giga Slave in the first place without knowing this (the Ragna Blade less so cause she read it in a Claire Bible manuscript…which surprisingly also left out the detail).  Still, this truth, coupled with her scary vision of death from last week, is going to seriously hamper what Lina can do and might even have her questioning her own powers themselves. 
 
Though that kind of questioning couldntve come at a worse time.  Turns out the little boy that helped the Slayers get to the Claire Bible was also the new/true big bad of the season: Hellmaster Phibrizzo.  Im of two minds on this.  For one, the guys power speaks for itself as he blew away Gaav with no problem…but he’s still in the form of a little kid and that could make him more annoying than threatening, no matter how powerful he is.  Idk, having little kids be the bad guy in an Anime usually never works because they end up being more irritating than menacing. 
 
However, Phibrizzo did manage to deal the ultimate blow to Lina and give us the biggest cliffhanger yet: he kidnapped Gourry while a weakened Lina was unable to save him.  This is gonna bring a lot of things to a head: the question of how dangerous Lina’s ultimate attacks are and how far Lina is willing to go to save her best friend and someone she might like more than she’ll admit.  This feels like such a far cry from where we were at this point in Season One.  Even a joke about justice and fake Gods from Amelia and Martina couldn’t offset just how bad things had gotten for The Slayers.  I doubt Lina will take this lying down.  But as we get ready for the season finale, I have to ask: How the Hell are they gonna win this one?  We’ll find out next week as we reach the conclusion of Slayers Next.

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